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Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis-Mexico's new Supreme Court will likely heavily favor Sheinbaum's ruling party
By Cassandra Garrison MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Judges aligned with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's ruling Morena political party are expected to dominate the country's Supreme Court after a vote that critics feared would weaken checks and balances on the executive branch's power. Sunday's unprecedented election will usher in nine Supreme Court justices, reduced from 11 previously appointed by various presidents. Most of those resigned over the judicial reform that spawned the vote and declined to participate in the elections. The voters who turned out - just 13% of the electorate - also chose more than 840 federal judges and magistrates positions, and thousands more at the local and state level. With nearly all votes counted by the end of Tuesday, the reconfigured Supreme Court looked to be dominated by justices affiliated with Morena through political posts. Several were previously endorsed by former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who pushed through the reform in his final months in office. Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum - his protégé - argued the reform was necessary to root out corruption in Mexico's flawed judicial system and make it more accessible to citizens. Critics of the reform, one of the most broad-ranging to be attempted in recent years by any country in the Western hemisphere, warned it would remove checks and balances on Morena, undermine democracy and boost powerful drug cartels' ability to influence the judicial system. The elections appear to put Morena, which already holds a majority in both houses of Congress, on the verge of controlling all three branches of Mexico's government. "It seems like the court that is going to form is one that Lopez Obrador always dreamed of having when he was president," said Laurence Pantin, co-coordinator of the Justice Observatory at Tec de Monterrey and director of the civil organization Fair Trial. "The objective, to be clear, was to have a judicial branch submissive to the executive branch," Pantin said. Some experts attribute Lopez Obrador's zeal to overhaul the judiciary to his tense relationship with the Supreme Court during his presidency from 2018 to 2024. The high court was often a roadblock to his policies, including curtailing the power of election authority INE and bringing the National Guard under control of the military. While Lopez Obrador ultimately found ways to accomplish most of his agenda, the Supreme Court served as an important check on his powers, said Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University. As Sheinbaum seeks to build on his legacy, she is likely to see much weaker resistance from the courts. That could help grease the wheels for her to further empower the armed forces to participate in civilian affairs or brush off procedural constraints on infrastructure projects. Lopez Obrador faced pushback from the court within the energy sector, too. A single-partisan judiciary could make it much easier for the government to circumvent environmental obligations or investor protections under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. "The optics are not great," Flores-Macias said. "It's very difficult to envision the Supreme Court serving as any counterbalance on these policies that the president will look to advance, especially with a majority in Congress," he added. While giving Morena a free hand to implement its agenda in the coming months and years, the stacking of the court with allies could also rob Sheinbaum and her party of one of Lopez Obrador's favorite scapegoats for his setbacks, Flores-Macias said. Sheinbaum heavily promoted the elections leading up to the vote, calling them an example of a strong democracy, in which judges and magistrates could answer to the people. But the low turnout has already prompted threats of legal challenges by the opposition. Alejandro Moreno, leader of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, called for the election results to be annulled, blasting the vote as a "farce" that had "nothing to do with democracy." "We will be heading towards an authoritarian government, a dictatorship, and these people from Morena don't care," Moreno said in a press conference on Monday. While justices on the prior high court who were appointed by other presidents resigned over the reform, Lopez Obrador appointees like Yasmin Esquivel Mossa and Loretta Ortiz Ahlf were on the ballot and appear to have secured posts in the elections. Despite the dangers of single-party domination, the new court's diversity could have some positive effects. Another Morena-backed candidate, indigenous rights defender Hugo Aguilar, is leading in the race to head the reconfigured court, a choice which could benefit Mexico's underserved indigenous populations, Pantin said. "It could have a positive aspect because there wasn't much diversity within the court and there hadn't been anyone of indigenous origin on it in recent years," Pantin said.
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Mexico's new Supreme Court will likely heavily favor Sheinbaum's ruling party
MEXICO CITY - Judges aligned with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's ruling Morena political party are expected to dominate the country's Supreme Court after a vote that critics feared would weaken checks and balances on the executive branch's power. Sunday's unprecedented election will usher in nine Supreme Court justices, reduced from 11 previously appointed by various presidents. Most of those resigned over the judicial reform that spawned the vote and declined to participate in the elections. The voters who turned out - just 13% of the electorate - also chose more than 840 federal judges and magistrates positions, and thousands more at the local and state level. With nearly all votes counted by the end of Tuesday, the reconfigured Supreme Court looked to be dominated by justices affiliated with Morena through political posts. Several were previously endorsed by former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who pushed through the reform in his final months in office. Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum - his protégé - argued the reform was necessary to root out corruption in Mexico's flawed judicial system and make it more accessible to citizens. Critics of the reform, one of the most broad-ranging to be attempted in recent years by any country in the Western hemisphere, warned it would remove checks and balances on Morena, undermine democracy and boost powerful drug cartels' ability to influence the judicial system. The elections appear to put Morena, which already holds a majority in both houses of Congress, on the verge of controlling all three branches of Mexico's government. "It seems like the court that is going to form is one that Lopez Obrador always dreamed of having when he was president," said Laurence Pantin, co-coordinator of the Justice Observatory at Tec de Monterrey and director of the civil organization Fair Trial. "The objective, to be clear, was to have a judicial branch submissive to the executive branch," Pantin said. Some experts attribute Lopez Obrador's zeal to overhaul the judiciary to his tense relationship with the Supreme Court during his presidency from 2018 to 2024. The high court was often a roadblock to his policies, including curtailing the power of election authority INE and bringing the National Guard under control of the military. While Lopez Obrador ultimately found ways to accomplish most of his agenda, the Supreme Court served as an important check on his powers, said Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University. As Sheinbaum seeks to build on his legacy, she is likely to see much weaker resistance from the courts. That could help grease the wheels for her to further empower the armed forces to participate in civilian affairs or brush off procedural constraints on infrastructure projects. Lopez Obrador faced pushback from the court within the energy sector, too. A single-partisan judiciary could make it much easier for the government to circumvent environmental obligations or investor protections under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. "The optics are not great," Flores-Macias said. "It's very difficult to envision the Supreme Court serving as any counterbalance on these policies that the president will look to advance, especially with a majority in Congress," he added. While giving Morena a free hand to implement its agenda in the coming months and years, the stacking of the court with allies could also rob Sheinbaum and her party of one of Lopez Obrador's favorite scapegoats for his setbacks, Flores-Macias said. Sheinbaum heavily promoted the elections leading up to the vote, calling them an example of a strong democracy, in which judges and magistrates could answer to the people. But the low turnout has already prompted threats of legal challenges by the opposition. Alejandro Moreno, leader of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, called for the election results to be annulled, blasting the vote as a "farce" that had "nothing to do with democracy." "We will be heading towards an authoritarian government, a dictatorship, and these people from Morena don't care," Moreno said in a press conference on Monday. While justices on the prior high court who were appointed by other presidents resigned over the reform, Lopez Obrador appointees like Yasmin Esquivel Mossa and Loretta Ortiz Ahlf were on the ballot and appear to have secured posts in the elections. Despite the dangers of single-party domination, the new court's diversity could have some positive effects. Another Morena-backed candidate, indigenous rights defender Hugo Aguilar, is leading in the race to head the reconfigured court, a choice which could benefit Mexico's underserved indigenous populations, Pantin said. "It could have a positive aspect because there wasn't much diversity within the court and there hadn't been anyone of indigenous origin on it in recent years," Pantin said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
Analysis-Mexico's new Supreme Court will likely heavily favor Sheinbaum's ruling party
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Judges aligned with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's ruling Morena political party are expected to dominate the country's Supreme Court after a vote that critics feared would weaken checks and balances on the executive branch's power. Sunday's unprecedented election will usher in nine Supreme Court justices, reduced from 11 previously appointed by various presidents. Most of those resigned over the judicial reform that spawned the vote and declined to participate in the elections. The voters who turned out - just 13% of the electorate - also chose more than 840 federal judges and magistrates positions, and thousands more at the local and state level. With nearly all votes counted by the end of Tuesday, the reconfigured Supreme Court looked to be dominated by justices affiliated with Morena through political posts. Several were previously endorsed by former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who pushed through the reform in his final months in office. Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum - his protégé - argued the reform was necessary to root out corruption in Mexico's flawed judicial system and make it more accessible to citizens. Critics of the reform, one of the most broad-ranging to be attempted in recent years by any country in the Western hemisphere, warned it would remove checks and balances on Morena, undermine democracy and boost powerful drug cartels' ability to influence the judicial system. The elections appear to put Morena, which already holds a majority in both houses of Congress, on the verge of controlling all three branches of Mexico's government. "It seems like the court that is going to form is one that Lopez Obrador always dreamed of having when he was president," said Laurence Pantin, co-coordinator of the Justice Observatory at Tec de Monterrey and director of the civil organization Fair Trial. "The objective, to be clear, was to have a judicial branch submissive to the executive branch," Pantin said. Some experts attribute Lopez Obrador's zeal to overhaul the judiciary to his tense relationship with the Supreme Court during his presidency from 2018 to 2024. The high court was often a roadblock to his policies, including curtailing the power of election authority INE and bringing the National Guard under control of the military. While Lopez Obrador ultimately found ways to accomplish most of his agenda, the Supreme Court served as an important check on his powers, said Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University. As Sheinbaum seeks to build on his legacy, she is likely to see much weaker resistance from the courts. That could help grease the wheels for her to further empower the armed forces to participate in civilian affairs or brush off procedural constraints on infrastructure projects. Lopez Obrador faced pushback from the court within the energy sector, too. A single-partisan judiciary could make it much easier for the government to circumvent environmental obligations or investor protections under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. "The optics are not great," Flores-Macias said. "It's very difficult to envision the Supreme Court serving as any counterbalance on these policies that the president will look to advance, especially with a majority in Congress," he added. While giving Morena a free hand to implement its agenda in the coming months and years, the stacking of the court with allies could also rob Sheinbaum and her party of one of Lopez Obrador's favorite scapegoats for his setbacks, Flores-Macias said. Sheinbaum heavily promoted the elections leading up to the vote, calling them an example of a strong democracy, in which judges and magistrates could answer to the people. But the low turnout has already prompted threats of legal challenges by the opposition. Alejandro Moreno, leader of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, called for the election results to be annulled, blasting the vote as a "farce" that had "nothing to do with democracy." "We will be heading towards an authoritarian government, a dictatorship, and these people from Morena don't care," Moreno said in a press conference on Monday. While justices on the prior high court who were appointed by other presidents resigned over the reform, Lopez Obrador appointees like Yasmin Esquivel Mossa and Loretta Ortiz Ahlf were on the ballot and appear to have secured posts in the elections. Despite the dangers of single-party domination, the new court's diversity could have some positive effects. Another Morena-backed candidate, indigenous rights defender Hugo Aguilar, is leading in the race to head the reconfigured court, a choice which could benefit Mexico's underserved indigenous populations, Pantin said. "It could have a positive aspect because there wasn't much diversity within the court and there hadn't been anyone of indigenous origin on it in recent years," Pantin said. (Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Christian Plumb and Stephen Coates)
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Mexico's new Supreme Court will likely heavily favor Sheinbaum's ruling party
MEXICO CITY, June 4 (Reuters) - Judges aligned with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's ruling Morena political party are expected to dominate the country's Supreme Court after a vote that critics feared would weaken checks and balances on the executive branch's power. Sunday's unprecedented election will usher in nine Supreme Court justices, reduced from 11 previously appointed by various presidents. Most of those resigned over the judicial reform that spawned the vote and declined to participate in the elections. The voters who turned out - just 13% of the electorate - also chose more than 840 federal judges and magistrates positions, and thousands more at the local and state level. With nearly all votes counted by the end of Tuesday, the reconfigured Supreme Court looked to be dominated by justices affiliated with Morena through political posts. Several were previously endorsed by former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who pushed through the reform in his final months in office. Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum - his protégé - argued the reform was necessary to root out corruption in Mexico's flawed judicial system and make it more accessible to citizens. Critics of the reform, one of the most broad-ranging to be attempted in recent years by any country in the Western hemisphere, warned it would remove checks and balances on Morena, undermine democracy and boost powerful drug cartels' ability to influence the judicial system. The elections appear to put Morena, which already holds a majority in both houses of Congress, on the verge of controlling all three branches of Mexico's government. "It seems like the court that is going to form is one that Lopez Obrador always dreamed of having when he was president," said Laurence Pantin, co-coordinator of the Justice Observatory at Tec de Monterrey and director of the civil organization Fair Trial. "The objective, to be clear, was to have a judicial branch submissive to the executive branch," Pantin said. Some experts attribute Lopez Obrador's zeal to overhaul the judiciary to his tense relationship with the Supreme Court during his presidency from 2018 to 2024. The high court was often a roadblock to his policies, including curtailing the power of election authority INE and bringing the National Guard under control of the military. While Lopez Obrador ultimately found ways to accomplish most of his agenda, the Supreme Court served as an important check on his powers, said Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University. As Sheinbaum seeks to build on his legacy, she is likely to see much weaker resistance from the courts. That could help grease the wheels for her to further empower the armed forces to participate in civilian affairs or brush off procedural constraints on infrastructure projects. Lopez Obrador faced pushback from the court within the energy sector, too. A single-partisan judiciary could make it much easier for the government to circumvent environmental obligations or investor protections under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. "The optics are not great," Flores-Macias said. "It's very difficult to envision the Supreme Court serving as any counterbalance on these policies that the president will look to advance, especially with a majority in Congress," he added. While giving Morena a free hand to implement its agenda in the coming months and years, the stacking of the court with allies could also rob Sheinbaum and her party of one of Lopez Obrador's favorite scapegoats for his setbacks, Flores-Macias said. Sheinbaum heavily promoted the elections leading up to the vote, calling them an example of a strong democracy, in which judges and magistrates could answer to the people. But the low turnout has already prompted threats of legal challenges by the opposition. Alejandro Moreno, leader of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, called for the election results to be annulled, blasting the vote as a "farce" that had "nothing to do with democracy." "We will be heading towards an authoritarian government, a dictatorship, and these people from Morena don't care," Moreno said in a press conference on Monday. While justices on the prior high court who were appointed by other presidents resigned over the reform, Lopez Obrador appointees like Yasmin Esquivel Mossa and Loretta Ortiz Ahlf were on the ballot and appear to have secured posts in the elections. Despite the dangers of single-party domination, the new court's diversity could have some positive effects. Another Morena-backed candidate, indigenous rights defender Hugo Aguilar, is leading in the race to head the reconfigured court, a choice which could benefit Mexico's underserved indigenous populations, Pantin said. "It could have a positive aspect because there wasn't much diversity within the court and there hadn't been anyone of indigenous origin on it in recent years," Pantin said.
France 24
a day ago
- General
- France 24
Ruling party-aligned judges set to dominate Mexico Supreme Court
The vote comes after a contentious overhaul made Mexico the first country in the world to select all their judges via the ballot box. The enormous democratic exercise asked voters to choose more than 880 federal judges as well as fill hundreds of local and magistrate positions. Despite confusion and low turnout -- with only about 13 percent of eligible voters participating -- President Claudia Sheinbaum declared the election a success. Her opponents, however, branded it a "farce" and warned the process would consolidate the ruling party's power. Sheinbaum's Morena party already dominates both houses of Congress. With 87 percent of ballots counted by late Monday night, judges aligned with the Morena party looked to be ahead in the Supreme Court race. But preliminary results also showed Hugo Aguilar, a member of the Mixtec Indigenous group and former advisor to the Zapatista guerrilla movement, on track to head the top court. The constitutional law specialist was leading over Lenia Batres, a Morena party member and appointee of former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. - 'Answer to the people' - Lopez Obrador initiated the judicial reform after repeatedly clashing with the courts as they blocked several of his flagship initiatives. Mexico's Congress, dominated by Morena party lawmakers, fast-tracked the overhaul during the leftist leader's final months in office, despite critics' concerns that it would undermine checks and balances and leave judges more vulnerable to criminal influence. The majority of Mexico's Supreme Court justices quit over the reform and declined to stand for election. Sheinbaum, Lopez Obrador's successor, has championed the overhaul as much-needed to clean up a judiciary mired in corruption. On Monday, she downplayed the low turnout, arguing that 13 million Mexicans casting ballots was more representative than the previous process, which saw senators select Supreme Court justices from a shortlist prepared by the president. "Mexico is the most democratic country in the world," she said. Sheinbaum also pushed back at claims that she would end up controlling the judiciary. "Now the judges, magistrates and justices answer to the people," she said. Results are expected to roll in through June 10. 'Dark day' The leader of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Alejandro Moreno, denounced the vote as a "farce" and called it a "dark day for democracy." The elections showed Sheinbaum's Morena party was "willing to do anything to concentrate power. They weaken the justice system, trample on institutions, and block the way to democratic debate," he said. Hundreds of opponents of the reforms marched through the capital waving flags and banners with slogans including: "Hands off our democracy" and "No to electoral fraud." The elections will send the judiciary "to its grave," said Ismael Novela, a 58-year-old company worker. "It was the last counterweight we had against the totalitarianism of the executive branch." But many voters were mystified by the sheer complexity of the process, with a long list of largely unknown candidates vying for around 2,600 judicial positions. "They put forward X person but we do not know their trajectory, their dedication, what they have done, and... who is behind them, or if they are alone," said Gerardo Ramirez, a 63-year-old newsstand worker in Mexico City. In the western state of Jalisco, 63-year-old housewife Maria Estrada said she used her "intuition" because she did not know the candidates. Arturo Giesemann, a 57-year-old retiree in Mexico City, said his main reason for voting was "the disgust I have with the current judiciary because of its corruption." 'High risk' judges Opponents warned that elected judges could be more vulnerable to pressure from criminals, in a country where powerful drug cartels regularly use bribery and intimidation to influence officials. Rights group Defensorxs identified around 20 candidates it considered "high risk," including Silvia Delgado, a former lawyer for Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Another aspiring judge, in Durango state, spent almost six years in prison in the United States for drug crimes, despite an official requirement for a clean criminal record. Candidates were also supposed to have a law degree, experience in legal affairs and what is termed "a good reputation."
